Tuesday, November 17, 2015

An Open Letter to Gov. Abbott - Re: #SyrianRefugees

Hello Gov. Abbott,

You Wrote a letter to President Obama:

Here is the thing, you have no power to reject the Obama administration's pledge to accept close to 10,000 Syrian refugees over next year. You directed the Texas Health & Human Services Commission's Refugee Resettlement Program to not participate in the resettlement of any Syrian refugees in the State of Texas. Under the Refugee Act of 1980 governors cannot legally block refugees and this means that your hands are tied. I find it funny that you and every other White male Governor (WASP), including Jindal are using the French tragedy to push your Christian agenda. Do remember that The First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that and Article VI specifies that "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

You have every right as an American citizen to urge the President "to halt" his "plans to allow Syrians to be resettled anywhere in the United States."What you do not have a right to do, is directly refuse Refugees because of your unfounded fear that "American humanitarian compassion could be exploited to expose Americans to similar deadly danger." Let me remind you that arefugee is a person who is outside their home country because they have suffered (or feared) persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, or political opinion; because they are a member of a persecuted social category of persons; or because they are fleeing a war. It is clear that what all you and the 25 other governors are doing is pushing Ethnocentrism, Racism,White privilege, Xenophobia &a host of other irrational forms of discrimination.

Yes, your claim that "The threat posed to Texas by ISIS is very real" has merit. However, you are taking a few bad apples and using them to criminalize Brown bodies who are simply seeking safety. I will leave you with one of your scriptures to let you see what a fool you are being, "You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself" - Lev 19:34....I suppose you want the POTUS to send the National Guard Texas to make sure you accept the refugees, but then you would say that he is invading Texas.

Ethnocentrism - is the belief of superiority is one's personal ethnic group, but it can also develop from racial or religious differences. Ethnocentric individuals believe that they are better than other individuals for reasons based solely on their heritage.

Racism - the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.

White privilege (or white skin privilege) - is a term for societal privileges that benefit white people in Western countries beyond what is commonly experienced by non-white people under the same social, political, or economic circumstances.

Xenophobia - intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries.

Christian privilege - is the system of advantages bestowed upon Christians in some societies. This system arises out of the presumption that the belief in Christianity is a social norm, leading to the exclusion of the nonreligious and members of other religions through institutional religious discrimination. Christian privilege can also lead to the neglect of outsiders' cultural heritage and religious practices.

Religious discrimination - is valuing or treating a person or group differently because of what they do or do not believe. Specifically, it is when adherents of different religions (or denominations) are treated unequally, either before the law or in institutional settings such as employment or housing.
Religious discrimination is related to religious persecution, the most extreme forms of which would include instances in which people have been executed for beliefs perceived to be heretic. Laws which only carry light punishments are described as mild forms of religious persecution or as religious discrimination.